The J. Peterman Company was founded in 1987 by John Peterman, an entrepreneur who was, among other things, formerly a minor league baseball player.[4] It took up the travel and safari theme originated by Banana Republic that was abandoned by them in 1989 soon after their corporate parent The Gap parted ways with Banana Republic founders Mel and Patricia Ziegler.[citation needed] The J. Peterman Company's first product was an original horseman's duster,[4] promoted with a small ad in The New Yorker. The company grew by offering distinctive lifestyle merchandise (including reproductions of antique clothing and clothing worn in specific films) within catalogs that differed from other direct marketing at the time. The catalogs use long copy to explain the products, often digressing into exotic stories of how the catalog writer came across the product, or how it will make the wearer irresistibly attractive, such as

When a man puts on this authentic French farmer's shirt he may very well find that his hands look bigger....Is that woman over there giving him the eye and nodding toward the haystack? Yes, and he knows what to do.[5]

Also, products are depicted in drawings rather than photographs.

From 1995 to 1998, the most popular television series at the time, Seinfeld, parodied the owner and the company with Elaine Benes working at the catalog under eccentric businessman and world traveler J. Peterman, played by John O'Hurley.[6]

In 1997, the company made a deal with 20th Century Fox to sell both original and authorized replica costumes and props from their upcoming film Titanic.[7] Most analysts expected the film to be a costly flop, and J. Peterman chose to feature it simply because it fit their brand, as a period piece, but when Titanic proved to be the biggest financial hit of all time, J. Peterman found themselves with a lucrative line of collectibles, the best-selling of which was the only authorized replica of the film's iconic Heart of the Ocean blue diamond necklace. The company sold over $1 million worth of the necklaces, priced at $198 each.[8]

Flush with the success of their Titanic bonanza, the company raised private equity to expand. The company opened up 10[4] retail stores in several markets, including New York, Detroit, and San Francisco.[9] The stores were moderately successful but the growth was too fast for the company's small operations. Despite $75 million in sales at its peak, the company was forced into bankruptcy in January 1999.[4][9]

The company was purchased by Paul Harris Stores in 1999, without the future participation of Peterman. Paul Harris Stores went bankrupt in 2000. In 2001, Peterman repurchased the name and restarted The J. Peterman Company, with Seinfeld sitcom Peterman portrayer O'Hurley as an investor.[4][6] With the help of a core group from the original company (creative director, William McCullam, marketing director Jonathan Dunavant, merchant Paula Collins and director of manufacturing Kyle Foster), the company was relaunched.[10] Tim Peterman, one of the founder's sons, left E. W. Scripps in 2008 to become president of the company. John Peterman became Chairman.[11]

On November 24, 2010, the company was the first to use the marketing term "Red Wednesday Sale", referring to the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as "Black Friday's Impetuous Cousin."

In January 2011, the J. Peterman Company received a Job Creation Tax Credit incentive from the State of Ohio valued at $122,000 over a six-year term. The headquarters was moved from Lexington, Kentucky to Blue Ash, Ohio.[12][13]

On April 11, 2016, the company launched a Kickstarter campaign[14] to raise money for new product development such as the Urban Sombrero from Seinfeld.